About the book

Author: Gabaldon, Diana

Title: Seven stones to stand or fall: A collection of Outlander fiction.

Publication: New York : Delacorte Press, 2017. ISBN 9781501932601.

DAISY audio format narrated by Jeff Woodman, Davina Porter, Allan Scott-Douglas, Robert Ian Mackenzie. CELA library call number DA54159. 544 pages in the paper edition; 24 hrs., 20 mins. as a recorded book.

About the story

If you are unfamiliar with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, they are very enjoyable. They involve time-travel from the mid-1950s to the mid-1800s, Scotsmen, broadswords and political intrigue. If you don’t mind a bit of sex, they are very good stories, written with humour and action in about equal measures. Read them in chronological order, though, or they can get confusing.

This collection consists of novellas the author wrote as “bulges” on the timeline of her longer works, and they mainly feature characters who are non-primary in the longer books or happen before the timeline for the regular series.

  • The custom of the army sees the Lord John Grey go to Quebec for a court martial and arrive just in time for the siege and the battle of les plaines d’Abraham.
  • The space between tells the story of Joan, Laoghaire’s (pronounced Leery) daughter, as she travels to a convent in France.
  • A plague of zombies, in which Lord John visits the Caribbean and meets with supernatural phenomena.
  • A leaf on the wind of all hallows tells the story of Roger’s father in WWII.
  • Virgins tells of the adventures of a very young Jaime Fraser as he learns the ropes of mercenary life from Ian Murray.
  • A fugitive green delves into the love life of Hal, Lord John’s elder brother.
  • Besieged sees Lord John Grey at the siege of Havana.

I realise that the descriptions above assume you are familiar with the Outlander series. I have read a good number, but by no means all of them.

One of the best things about this CELA book is that the authors notes are actually read by the author, Diana Gabaldon herself. Her wry humour comes through excellently in her own words.

The other narrators are excellent as well, however, and the book itself is varied and delightful. Because they all happen in a similar ambience, this does not feel like a book of random short stories but they can be read with a lot of time in between them and not suffer in the least.

If you are a fan of the Outlander series, you will love this collection.